The Poco a Poco Podcast with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

Episode 219 - Hot Takes 5 We have to understand that we are going through different journeys. God is doing something completely different in each of our lives and we have to be attentive to that. Let us not be so quick to judge—everything is not as simple as it may seem. As we continue our journeys through life, we will constantly encounter our own and other people's struggles, flaws, weaknesses, and even sins. In our Catholic life, there will be a lot of questions that will come our way and in this episode, we'll try to answer a few of them. Here is another one of our Hot Takes episodes that talks about some essential topics that most of us can relate to. In this episode we'll be going through the following topics: 1️⃣ The Experience of Saul: Aging and Transition 2️⃣ Our Love for Home Through the Quirky and the Positive and How It Relates to God 3️⃣ The Confusion About What Is Sin or Not The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Episode 218 - For Those Not Accepted to Seminary or Religious Life Have you ever felt rejected by God or the church, as you try to get into religious life? This can be an utterly heartbreaking experience. When faced with "No" as a response to the desire to get into religious life, one might feel that they are being rejected by God or the church, that they're undesirable, or too broken for religious life. But in reality, that is not the case. This decision is actually a culmination of careful assessment of one's discernment, capacity, and the call they felt into religious life. This episode speaks more about that in hopes of explaining the reasons behind those decisions and encountering the hurt and vulnerable in these situations. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

This podcast delves into topics such as the burden of new rules, media consumption, and the experience of priesthood. The hosts talk about navigating liturgical practices, implementing boundaries in technology use, and addressing labels and judgments in the priesthood.

Episode 216 - The Good Shepherd, Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 11) As a shepherd, what are you willing to lay down for your sheep? For shepherds nowadays, and even in the times of the Apostle, the sheep are for the shepherd's sake, they serve him. It's not like vice versa, sheep are the product and we get them to pasture so they can grow, so we can slaughter them. But this wasn't the case for Jesus, He said that "I am the good shepherd "and I lay down my life for my sheep." Jesus loves us this way. He wants to be so close and hold us so intimately and he doesn't want us to be lost. He doesn't want us to be far away, but he wants to feed, protect, clothe, and hold us. In this episode, as we bring our series on the book The Father to a close, we will be reflecting upon Jesus as the Good Shepherd and what this reveals to us of the heart of God as we talk about a story of a Father who freely lays down his life to save his son, and in doing so, loses his own life. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! You can get your copy of The Father (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/thefather

Episode 215 - That None Would Be Lost, Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 10) Can you imagine how it feels for a parent when their child dies? A father and a mother don't want to lose any of their children and this is an icon of understanding how God doesn't want any of his children to be lost—how passionate God is about our salvation. God desires none to be lost. Today we'll talk about how we can walk towards life and away from death as a fruit of sin. We'll dive deeper into how we can keep the life of grace and the heart of God fully alive in our souls. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! You can get your copy of The Father (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/thefather

Episode 214 - Father of Mercies, Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 9) Do you trust God's mercy? We are invited to bring to light those things that we are keeping in the dark, things that are tough, and trust that God in his mercy will love and care for us there. When we bring something to the Lord, it's forgiven and it's gone, He no longer sees us with that. He doesn't define us as a son or daughter who did this bad thing. To the Father's eyes, we are not defined by our sin and our weakness but by His love and our capacity to live like His son or daughter. But at the same time, sin still can seriously hurt us and the Father is also zealous to crush it and the things that lead us to them. Today we're looking at God and His Mercy and try to understand that a little bit. We'll take a look at both the merciful God and the God who is indifferent to sin. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! You can get your copy of The Father (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/thefather

Episode 213 - Love and the Cross, Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 8) What's your initial response to difficulty? Difficulty and suffering is something that's part of the world we live in and to move forward with the Lord we have to live in this reality, even though it's hard. God is with us in it! One of the things a father also has to do is to teach their children and equip their children to do hard things. God the Father equips us and prepares us for what we need to have fulfillment and happiness in salvation, which includes learning how to carry and share in the suffering on the cross. In this episode, we'll talk about how to persevere in doing hard things for an extended period of time and how to stay steady with the Lord amidst the difficulty. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! You can get your copy of The Father (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/thefather

Fr. Mark-Mary Ames discusses the spirituality of laws and rules, emphasizing the balance between following them for safety while seeking true freedom. He encourages discernment of established rules and cultural norms to ensure they align with God's will, promoting deeper connections with the Divine.

Episode 211 - On Being Safe, Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 6) What does it mean to be safe? Safety is not the absence of suffering, it's not like we're not going to struggle with anything but it's the recognition that when we are vulnerable, we don't have to escape it, because someone wants to be with us and provide for us and that is our Lord, Jesus Christ. This is the safety that we are proposing. In this episode, we're focusing on the necessity of having sufficient resources and true expectations as we unpack what it really means to be truly safe. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! You can get your copy of The Father (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/thefather

Episode 210 - Loved and Celebrated, Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 5) What does it mean to be loved and celebrated? We are favored sons and daughters worthy of celebration—of being served. We are worthy and loved by God and this episode talks about a step in the right direction on what it means to be loved and celebrated. This is a gentle call to conversion and repentance, an invitation to allow ourselves to be loved sacrificially and give God and others permission to love and celebrate us. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! You can get your copy of The Father (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/thefather